


Your Pulse in the Pages

by RoonilWazlibMalfoy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, F/M, Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle's Diary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 16:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoonilWazlibMalfoy/pseuds/RoonilWazlibMalfoy
Summary: Ginny was bored and angry at the world. She found a friend in a book and got more than she bargained for.





	Your Pulse in the Pages

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate timeline story. Harry made it all the way through Hogwarts without Voldemort returning. The Chamber of Secrets incidents are happening in Ginny's 7th year.
> 
> This was written for the Hogwarts Facebook group August 2019 story prompt challenge, prompt #2.

Tired of her life and angry at the world, Ginny Weasley was a force to be reckoned with. She was the last Weasley child still at home, the last one to still be at Hogwarts. The strings still tying her to this shitty life were fraying on both ends and she couldn't wait until they had completely snapped. She couldn't wait to move on to bigger and better things, to set the world on fire. 

She and Harry had barely lasted a month. Despite his temper, he was so wholesome and oblivious. She needed someone who could match her pace. Her parents certainly couldn't control her. When her mother asked her to set the table, she smashed the dishes. When her father asked if she wanted to see his newest muggle trinkets, she rolled her eyes and stormed off. Even the thought of flying didn't bring her joy anymore. She didn't want to just fly. She wanted to fly away. 

Her father took her to Diagon Alley to retrieve her school supplies. She looked on with boredom as he bickered with Lucius Malfoy, raising an eyebrow when her father punched the blonde man. She found herself internally cheering when Lucius, blood trickling from his elegant nose, snapped his wand out of his robes to hex her father. It would have been nice to see Arthur taken down a notch after his fumbling attempt at brawling like a muggle. Unfortunately someone broke up the fight before that could happen. Lucius thrust her second-hand books at her and sauntered away proudly, brushing his robes off as if to cleanse them from the poverty that had touched him when her father went at him. It was no matter. One day Lucius and Arthur would both be looking up to her. One day she'd show everyone. 

She dutifully carried her books home and packed her trunk. She boarded the train the next day and arrived at Hogwarts without fanfare. She was a 7th year, the big man on campus now, but it seemed that all the fun had been sucked out of the castle now that her friends had moved on with their lives. She ate the food provided and went to her dorm as quickly as possible, never speaking to anyone. She put on her pajamas and readied herself for bed, not particularly sleepy, but not interested in speaking to anyone either. Pulling out her books, she thought she may as well read ahead to get ready for classes tomorrow. She had nothing better to do anyway. 

And that is when she noticed the book. 

Bound in black leather, it seemed expensive but old. It was marked Property of Tom M. Riddle in gold lettering, but the pages were all clean and white. Ginny rolled her eyes at the thought of yet another hand-me-down piece of second hand junk from her parents, but she held the book close anyway. It seemed to be compelling her to write and she found she didn't even want to resist. It might be nice to have a place to record her thoughts.

She picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and began to write. "I am Ginevra Weasley and my life sucks." She smirked at the thought of being able to say whatever she wanted with no one telling her she couldn't or shouldn't. It was then that she noticed a very strange thing happening. Her words had absorbed right into the page and new words were forming. 

"Hello, Ginevra. I am Tom Riddle. What is so bad about your life?"

Ginny's eyes widened in shock and then she smiled. This might be the best thing that could happen this year. A friend to talk to who wouldn't leave her or betray her secrets. A companion, maybe a partner in crime. She did not stop to think of possible enchantments or curses that might cause her book to behave like this. She did not stop to think at all. She only dipped her quill in ink again and continued writing to Tom.

She continued writing to Tom for most of the night and she continued writing to him daily. Sometimes they would talk for hours. Sometimes Tom showed her things from when he attended Hogwarts; his beloved potions professor, his old headmaster. But Ginny couldn't talk to him while she viewed his memories, so she enjoyed writing to him most. And as she got to know Tom, she began to love him. 

He was so clever and even willing to help her with her school work. He knew all the secrets of the castle and he led her to exploring places she'd never seen before. He seemed to really hate muggles, and after he explained it, she believed him. Muggles were cruel and they were many. They would enslave witches, force them to heal their illnesses and fix their problems. They would torture magical people who refused. They would kill them, burn them, drown them. Yes, Tom was right. Ginny believed and she loved. 

When her grades started to slip, despite Tom's help, she didn't really mind. She wasn't sure what she'd do to take the world by storm after Hogwarts, but she was sure that her 7th year charms grades wouldn't affect her. When she started to lose track of time, lose chunks of the night, she didn't think twice about it. She spent so much time talking to Tom, it made sense that she might doze off now and then. 

And it was worth it. She knew it was worth it. He was a gentleman, so kind and understanding. He always listened to her and offered good advice. He called her darling and he showed her the love she knew she'd always been searching for. And he was so good looking, so dark and handsome, his eyes burning with such intensity, that she wondered how she could ever have found Harry Potter attractive. 

At winter break, Ginny wrote to her parents and told them she'd stay at school to study for her NEWTS. They didn't question her at all. They didn't even know her enough to question it. They knew the tests were important and that she might not want to see Harry after their breakup. They knew nothing. 

She spent winter break with Tom, her beloved. She didn't remember much of it, but she loved every bit of it. She was closer to him than ever. He showed her his darkest secrets, even though she couldn't remember them. He spoke secret languages through her, even though she couldn't understand. And when break was over and the students returned, they were so entwined that she wasn't sure where she stopped and he began. She reveled in the feeling, knowing this was how love should be. One soul. One heartbeat.

In early spring, strange things started happening in the castle, but Ginny barely noticed. What did she care about a petrified cat? A petrified ghost? A petrified child? They were nothing to her and Tom. 

One bright spring morning, Ginny woke up feeling a deep sense of contentment. She had dreamed of her and Tom together, but really together. Living in a stately manor, ruling over muggles, doing whatever they wished. She wanted it. She wanted that life. She wanted Tom.

Pulling her dear book from beneath her pillow, she wrote to her beloved, begging him to find a way to bring himself out of the book and into her arms. Tom was so clever, she knew that he'd find a way. He wrote back almost immediately. Her brilliant Tom already knew what to do. She only needed to share her life force with him, he told her. It would be so simple and she was so willing. 

Tom took over then. He carried her to his dark secret chamber, the place he'd showed her before, a private place for their ritual to happen without interruption. He told her she need not do anything. She trusted him and lay on the cold stone floor, contentedly waiting.

It seemed like a long time and no time at all before he was beside her, his form pale and ethereal at first, but growing stronger by the minute as she grew weaker. He smiled at her and told her she was doing so well and she believed him. She loved him. 

Another long time, or no time, and she could feel his hands on her back. She looked up at him with love, but when she tried to speak flecks of red came from her lips. She touched her face and found that the tears of joy she'd been crying at the prospect of truly seeing her love were actually tears of blood. Blood and joy mingled with a tinge of fear as she asked him what was happening, what was wrong.

"It's nothing," he told her softly. "A little more of your life force and I'll be here, love. You'll be gone. But I'll be here."

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did she cried out in shock. Blood spattered the floor as she asked him why? She professed her love and begged him to let her stay with him. 

"There, there, Ginevra," he crooned softly. "I'll always cherish you, darling. Your sacrifice is my future."

The full realization of what was happening hit her in that moment. He didn't need a little of her life force, he needed it all. He was taking it and she was too weak to even stop him. She had loved him with all of her being, and now he was collecting on it. "Don't. Comfort. Me." she gasped with her final bloody breath. 

Tom chuckled darkly as he walked away, leaving his book and her body and to lie in the chamber, together forever. "I'm not. I don't actually care."


End file.
